The Minnewaska Area girls basketball team picked up its fifth win of the season during a 50-41 road win at Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Thursday, Dec. 21.

The Lakers improved to 5-3 overall with the win and Minnewaska Area is also 3-1 in the WCC.

It was a balanced effort that paved the way for the victory as Minnewaska had five players score seven or more points.

Minnewaska Area was also set to participate in a Holiday Tourney, Dec. 29-30 before commencing with the 2024 portion of its schedule with a game at home against West Central Area, Friday, Jan. 5.

Through the early portion of the WCC schedule, Sauk Centre leads the WCC with a 3-0 record, while WCA and Minnewaska Area are tied for second with 3-1 marks.

•  This year’s varsity roster includes senior Avery Fier; juniors Addy Kath, Lauren Stryhn, Sydney Dahl, Megan Thorfinnson, Dacia Fleury and Amber Peabody; and sophomores Alia Randt, Lauryn Ankeny, Olivia Danielson, Carly Jergenson, Kendall Danielson and Jayda Kolstoe.

Waska 50, BBE 41

Despite shooting 28 percent from the field, the Lakers earned a 50-41 win at BBE, Thursday, Dec. 21.

The Lakers and Jaguars were tied at 20-20 through halftime before Minnewaska outscored the home team 30-21 in the deciding second half.

Lauryn Ankeny led the Lakers in scoring with 11 points, three rebounds and four steals, while Sydney Dahl added nine points, six boards, three steals and seven blocked shots, and Alia Randt also had nine points to go along with five rebounds and two assists.

Overall, the Lakers shot 17-for-59 from the field, including 14-of-49 from its top five scorers combined.

Megan Thorfinnson was held without a field goal for the second-straight game, but she did go 8-for-8 from the line for eight points and also had two assists. Addy Kath added seven points, two assists and a team-high eight rebounds, while Avery Fier, Olivia Danielson and Jayda Kolstoe had two points each.

For BBE, Bree Thieschafer had 16 points and nine rebounds, and teammate Brooklyn Fischer added 13 points.  The Jaguars fell to 5-3 with the loss.

So far this season, 54 is the magic number as the Lakers are 4-0 when scoring at least that many points and 1-3 when scoring below 54 points.

•  Members of the B-squad team include juniors Lauren Stryhn, Dacia Fleury and Amber Peabody; sophomores Phemie Oeltjen, Aubrey Stark, Carly Jergenson and Kendall Danielson; ninth-graders Eliana Marthaler, Haillie Schulz and Norah VanZee; and eighth-grader Berlynn Green, and members of the C-squad team are ninth-grader Claira Frey; and eighth-graders Mileigh Lundebrek, Miranda Grossman, Sydney Ankeny, Molly Cassidy, Lillie Ogdahl, Michaela Johnson, Sadie Danielson, Peyton Sundheim, Hannah Hoeper and Ella Larson.

•  Montevideo won last year’s conference title with a perfect 12-0 league mark, followed by BOLD (9-3), Sauk Centre (8-4), Minnewaska (6-6), WCA (4-8), Morris Area-CA (3-9) and Melrose (0-12).  Benson did not play a full conference schedule last year because of a lack of players and the Braves will also not be playing in the WCC this winter.

•  Earning All-WCC for the Lakers last year were Megan Thorfinnson and Sydney Dahl, while Brooke Kolstoe earned honorable mention.

Sauk Centre and Montevideo led the All-Conference selections with four players each, while BOLD had three, Minnewaska Area and WCA both had two and Morris Area-CA and Melrose Area both had one.

Waska 50, at BBE 41

Waska (5-3) 20 30 — 50

BBE (5-3) 20 21 — 41

WASKA stats:  17-59 FG (4-12 3pt); 12-19 FT; 8 assists; 8 blocks; 29 rebounds; 11 steals; 18 fouls; 14 turnovers . . . Scoring:  Lauryn Ankeny 11, Sydney Dahl 9, Alia Randt 9, Megan Thorfinnson 8, Addy Kath 7, Jayda Kolstoe 2, Avery Fier 2, Olivia Danielson 2 . . . Rebounding:  Kath 8, Dahl 6, Randt 5, Ankeny 3, Fier 2, Danielson 2, Kolstoe 2 . . . Assists:  Thorfinnson 2, Randt 2, Kath 2 . . . Steals:  Ankeny 4, Dahl 3 . . . Blocked shots:  Dahl 7

BBE stats:   Scoring:  Bree Thieschafer 16, Brooklyn Fischer 13 . . . Rebounding:  Thieschafer 9 . . . Other stats not available

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!